The Boys
by HardRiRi
Summary: Darien goes back to a time when we was in boarding school. It's where he met everyone in his life; his future wife, his best friends ... and his killer. Find out how this story unfolds and see where it all went awry.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own and Sailor Moon characters**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

'_How did we get here_?' Darien thought to himself as he breathed heavily and clutched tightly onto his bleeding side. An unfamiliar, loud groan escaped from his broken lips. Hot tears left clean trails on his dirt covered face as he glanced over at the limp body next him. His breathing heightened as small sobs finally accumulated in his chest. He could feel the color drain from his face as sweat dribbled down in fast paced beads, mixing with his tears.

"I thought we were _best_ friends, Darien," a voice in the darkness cooed to him.

"W-we are!" he stammered through his gritted teeth.

"Friends don't _shoot_ their best friends do they?" the deep, undetectable voice asked.

This man was standing perfectly in the shadows so that Darien couldn't get a correct image of him. This would make it harder for him to actually declare that he knew his shooter … if he makes out of this damp cavern alive.

The man waved his gun around in certain spots of light so that Darien could be reminded of the possible death that was coming his way. He took a well-crafted move partially into the light, concealing his face still thanks to the shitty light bulb that was flickering constantly through their standoff.

"I-I thought we were f-f-f-f—"

"You thought we were friends?" the man's voice concluded. "Really? I thought you just said we were best friends! Well if we're just friends, then that makes all the difference! I can gladly kill you _now_! You're only a _friend_, after all … not a _best_ friend."

"N-NO!" he hollered, his growling, low gurgling voice bouncing off of the walls. This made the man put his flinging silver gun back at his side, where it wouldn't try to shoot at anyone for the time being. "W-we're bets friends! I swear to you!"

"We are? Tell me about our friendship, Darien," he insisted. The man pulled a dust, rickety old chair up to his slender body and sat down, "Go on. Tell me how you saw our friendship unfold? It will be a nice end to your life – the story teller."

Darien swallowed hard and leaned his head back, "Can I at least have a cigarette?"

He could sense the shadowed person rolling their eyes. A packet of pre-opened cigarettes flew through the air and Darien caught it with the one dry, free and he had. He took out a cigarette and pulled a lighter from his pocket. He lit it and glanced at the passed out body beside him, wondering if they were okay.

"Don't worry," the voice stated, bringing him back to his task. "Concentrate on _me_. It's all about _me_."

"You're right," he replied, taking his first drag. "It's always been about you, hasn't it? You and no one else. You don't care what you do to other people, do you?"

"Not particularly, no," he confessed. "Why should I? When everyone around me dies, I'll only have myself to thank for my vast empire."

"I wish that had been more apparent when we were younger. When I first met you … well … you were there. That was quite a day."

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><p><strong>Years Ago…<strong>

It was raining. What a perfect way to end this set of unfortunate events. Darien at in the back seat of the Mercedes as it rolled through the lush greenery. Under other circumstances, he would have thought of the view as breath taking, something out of an epic British Victorian novel. But seeing as how his parents had just died in a car accident a few weeks beforehand, he wasn't quite in the mood to look at his surroundings as being positive. He had been tossed from one aunt to the next until finally the eldest of his Shields clan decided to solve the problem with money. Aunt Ethel sent him away to the New England countryside where he would attend boarding school. The school obliging accepted him and promised his aunt that by the time summer rolled around, he would exude the class that everyone at the establishment had naturally.

His father had disappointed the whole Shields troupe when he told everyone that he was marrying a waitress and moving to Manhattan to be a director. Luckily he had been a great director. He earned back his erased inheritance and made sure that all of it would go only to Darien and no one else in the family for excommunicating him. The greedy elders tried to grab at Darien's sealed away money, but none succeeded. Ethel knew she wasn't going to get anything from taking care of her nephew, however she couldn't watch him fall through the foster care system either. She told him that on vacations, he was more than welcome to come back to her East Hampton compound if he so chose to. He never said if he would take her up on that offer, but he did say he would write.

The car finally came to a stop in front of the castle looking school. A slender woman with a jowly face came walking up to the car and opened up the door to let Darien out.

"My name is Mrs. Blankenship. I am the headmistress of the grounds. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Shields. I hope the ride wasn't too dreadful for you," she greeted stoically.

Darien merely stepped out of the car and then shot his eyes up to the windows where a bunch of boys ranging from thirteen to eighteen were all watching. He followed her up into the Hampshire Boarding School. She went rambling on in a shrieking voice about how he was going to be expected to keep up with studies and outer school activities. He had to pick from playing an instrument, taking a writing class, or playing a sport.

"Can't I do all of them?" Darien asked bluntly.

Mrs. Blankenship turned around and arched an eyebrow, "If you think you can handle that."

"I can," he said simply as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

She continued on with the tour, explaining the schedule for the students and how many credits they were expected to take within in a semester, "Breakfast is at eight. Classes start at nine. You will take a preliminary test to see where you fit in with class levels. We expect you to get through everything by the time you're eighteen. By then, you will apply to universities and excel in anything you choose to do."

He wondered if there was a class on how to have fun or how to become happy again. He couldn't give two shits about what time he was supposed to go to his drumming lessons in order to make it to his lacrosse practice on time. The world seemed meaningless without his parents around. He had to take care of himself … until he could find someone else or something else to latch onto, he felt lost. His dad had taught him how to be spontaneous and excited about everything. His mother taught him how to be a hard worker and to be grateful for everything. He felt as though he was losing some of the lessons he had learned from them. How can someone be grateful for the life they lead when their only loved ones were ripped from them? Darien didn't make many friends in his public school. The ones he did make were superficial pricks who deserted him the moment his parents died. No one knew the definition loyalty anymore.

Darien suddenly snapped out of his daze and realized that he had come to where he was going to be sleeping. He peered into the opened up doorway to gaze at his room. There was a crackling fire place at the very end of the extremely large space with a few couches. There were six wooden poster beds with matching dark grey sheets and blankets. At the foot of everyone's bed was a leather woven chest and their names engraved on plaques above their beds. Darien took a step back and looked up above the doorframe where there was gold and brick red typography spelling out, "The Lion's Den".

"The boys have taken to naming their room that," she explained to him.

Mrs. Blankenship guided the way down the rows of beds until she got to the second to last one. Darien's name had been scrawled on a gold plaque above the boring bed.

"Your things have been put away during our tour. Your roommates will arrive shortly. They are still at their extracurricular activities," she stated tersely before turning around leaving.

"Wait!" Darien called out. "What about my exams?"

"There will be a note sent to you. Dinner is a six," she answered without turning around.

The sixteen year old ruffian was left to his own devices, sitting on his bed alone. He should have gone through everything to see what his roommates are like, but he had no energy for that. All of his energy had been wasted away on sadness. He slowly started to drift into sleep, but it clearly was not fast enough because no sooner had he shut his eyes did he hear the sound of loud obnoxious laughter. In walked five boys. One of them was tall, muscular, and tanned with long dyed white hair. His grey eyes narrowed at Darien.

"Look at what we have here guys. A new roommate," the silver-haired boy said.

One of the shorter boys with strawberry blonde locks slicked to the side ran up to his bed and read his name out loud, "Darien Shields."

"Shields? I've never heard of that name before," the kid with long dark brown locks said snidely. "Where are you from?"

"Connecticut," he answered.

"What does your father do?" the short haired blonde asked.

"He was a director," he replied quietly.

"'_Was_'?" the white haired boy repeated.

"Past tense," Darien nodded. "He and my mother were killed in a car accident a few weeks ago."

"Oh … well, my name is Kunzite," he said, extending his hand out to him.

Darien got off of the bed and shook his hand. Right as Kunzite gripped him, his eyes darted to the other boys. They suddenly jump up and all tackled him down to the hardwood floors. He cried out loud as they took sheets from nearby beds to tie him up as they cut off his clothes. They left his pasty white body covered only in his navy blue boxer briefs. He tried to scream for help, but they just shoved is mouth with one of his socks and then wrapped duck-tape around his head. They tied his feet and hands together and the proceeded to create a long rope of sheets. Darien took a few deep breaths in through his nose as they dragged him out of their dorm room down some long corridors and then coming to an abrupt stop. Three of the boys lifted him up while Kunzite grabbed a ladder. He wrapped the thin sheet around a giant hook – its use was uncertain in the school, but made for great fun for all of the boys at the school. This was how they always hazed the new comers. It was tradition and a rite of passage.

When they finally finished hanging him upside down, they all stood in front of him and waved.

"Don't worry Shields," Kunzite reassured him, "the late afternoon classes will be getting out soon. You'll be let down in a minute or so."

"Oh yeah! And by the way, this is a co-ed school. Best to show off all your goods at once to the ladies. Then they won't be surprised when they decided to date you," the dark brown haired boy laughed. "See you soon!"

With that, they waved goodbye to him. Well … most of them. The strawberry blonde kid stayed behind and stared at Darien for a little bit. He had a look of sympathy on his face. He waited until all of his roommates were out of his sight and out of earshot before he approached him.

"I've been in your spot," he said. "It sucks." Darien could only flutter his eyes open and close. All of the blood was rushing to head and making him dizzy. "I passed out too. I wish I had someone to help me…" Darien screamed through his sock full mouth making his newly acquired roommate laugh out loud. "Alright! I'll help you down!"

He grabbed the ladder that Kunzite had used and climbed up to the top to untie the sheet. He tried to slowly let Darien down to the ground without dropping him and ended up roughly bouncing him down to the ground. This kid was rather small and scrawny. Not at all like the other boys who were extremely athletic and quick witted. He seemed like the runt of the litter.

As he started to get down the ladder, the bell for the late afternoon classes went off and students started to escape their jails. A large group of them from surrounding classrooms stopped dead in their tracks and stared at the new kid in just his boxers. It could have been the most scarring moment for Darien in his entire adolescent year, but he immediately thought of what his father would do in this moment. So he stood up straight and smiled at everyone, acting like nothing was wrong.

"Nice greeting, huh?" he said to all of his fellow students, both male and female.

One of the teachers came walking out of their classroom and nearly dropped all of the tests they received when seeing the two young men standing in the center of the circle of onlookers. The teacher pointed down the hallway, gesturing to the dean's office at the end. The younger boy gulped while Darien just nodded and walked down the hallway as though he were sporting the best out in the whole school. As they walked down the corridor to what seemed like a punishment, he tore a piece of the sheet off and handed it to the shaking boy next him. He had a plan at work.

He walked into the office and sat down on a chair in the receptionist area. The young secretary behind the desk called for dean who came out promptly. He sighed upon seeing the two teenagers through his thick glasses. He waved them into his office and shut the door behind them. He sat at his desk and folded his large, rough looking hands. When he breathed heavily, his grey and black mustache fluttered a bit.

"Again, Gavin?" he asked the boy sitting next to Darien.

"Sir, last time it was _me_ hanging upside down, remember?" Gavin replied.

"Mr …" Darien glanced at his name on the desk, "Mr. Andersen, he wasn't behind this."

"Oh? And who was?" he asked.

"I don't know. I was blindfolded," he answered. Gavin held up the ripped up sheet he was handed when they had walked down the hallway together. "See? Luckily my roommate found me and helped me down."

Mr. Andersen, whose face was usually in a grave expression lightened up at the sound of a young student doing well here at the boarding school. For once students weren't sneaking out or hazing one another, but they were helping each other become more accustomed to their surroundings. It was endearing to hear.

"Well then, I'll have to keep that in mind when I grade everyone's overall school spirit, huh?" he replied, his eyes wide with happiness.

"Yes sir!" Gavin smiled.

"May I return to my room, sir?" Darien asked.

"Yes. Yes, you may," he nodded.

The pair left the office as fast as their legs could carry them down the winding hallways. They finally made it to their room, laughing together at how they had gotten away with that. Kunzite turned around from his desk and smiled broadly.

"Wow. You got out of that fast," he said. His eyes jumped to Gavin, "Did _you_ help him down?"

"He did one better!" Darien exclaimed, draping an arm over his shoulders. "This kid got the dean on our side!"

"And that's supposed to be a good thing because…?" Kunzite pressed on.

"Because then he'll only see us as these great ruffian kids who have good morals and values. He'll never believe anyone if they say they caught us sneaking out late at night or saw us smoking a cigarette on the grounds," he replied as he removed the remaining sheets from his wrists and started to rummage through his chest for a pair of trousers. "Trust me. I did this with my old public school. You need to be the best possible in front of the teachers so you can be your worst when you're not around them."

"Smart man," a long haired blonde said, laying on his bed. "I don't think we all introduced ourselves properly. I'm Zoisite."

"I'm Nephrite!" the one with the long brown hair said, raising his hand in the air.

"I'm Jadeite," the blonde short haired kid said at the other end of the room.

"Nice to finally meet all of you without you attacking me," Darien smirked.

"We'll see how well you fare here," Kunzite replied slyly as he went back to his homework.

So far, the first day was hectic and crazy, just like he had expected. He knew that not every day was going to be like this. The boys were trying to test him out, see how he worked. He hoped he had the approval of Kunzite. That strange looking creature seemed to have a stronghold over this group. Gavin on the other hand was at the bottom of the totem pole. He clearly was their footstool. He hadn't learned how to command attention and go with the flow. He was timid, but a fast learner. Darien liked him.

"Dinner isn't for another forty five minutes," Gavin said. "Wanna go toss a football around?"

"Sure," Darien replied, jumping off his bed and donning on an old Yale sweatshirt that his father had given him from his great grandfather.

"Wait! I want to come too!" Jadeite hollered.

"Me too!" Nephrite and Zoisite said in unison, dropping their books onto their desks or beds and running out after the small group. Kunzite simply glanced at them as they walked out. Darien felt that he was the type of character who felt it was everyone else's duty to invite him along so he paused at the doorframe.

"You coming?" he asked.

"I'll be there in a minute," he answered.

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><p>"And to think," Gavin said breathlessly, "that was only half of the first day."<p>

He leaned forward and grinned maliciously at Darien, his eyes glossed over with insanity. He ran a hand through his slicked back hair and leaned back in his rickety wooden chair. His eyes stayed glued onto Darien who was still bleeding on the ground from an apparent bullet wound to his side. He kept smoking the cigarette as though he wasn't in pain, just so he could get a rise out of the man in front of him. Somehow between when they were kids until now, Gavin had snapped. Darien did his best to keep his friend calm by explaining how they got their in the first place. His eyes fell onto the still body beside him …

"Keep going Darien," Gavin begged. "I'm intrigued now…"

He took another drag of his white cancerous stick and sighed, "Fine…"

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><p>Stay tuned! Chapter 2 up next! Please review! ^_^<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"So? What happened next?" Gavin asked, his gun still glinting the light.

His necktie was loosened up and a slight breeze from a small broken window behind them fluttered against his golden curly locks. Darien could have screamed, but then the person next to him could have very well been killed. She was just passed out. Yes. It was a female. Her curvy body was still rising and falling ever so slightly. He stared at her ribcage for reassurance. A quick burst of wind pushed a few strands of her blonde hair off of her tear stained cheek. She had been crying before she got knocked out.

"Darien!" Gavin roared, making him snap the safety off of his gun. Darien flicked his vision back onto his childhood friend turned enemy. "Pay attention to _me_! Not her!"

"All right … all right! So we were outside tossing a football around…"

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><p>Darien squinted his eyes a bit as they walked out onto the field. The orange sun was just beginning to fall behind the windblown grassy hills off in the distance. He, Nephrite, Zoisite, Jadeite, and Gavin all started to jog across the green turf in front of them.<p>

"So what's with the mineral names?" Darien asked Nephrite.

The brunette smiled, "Our parents."

"They are all really close," Jadeite chimed in with a wide grin curling his lips. "They all grew up in Manhattan."

"If there was group of noble people by blood in America, I think our families would be it," Nephrite continued. "Thus why we have these names. It's an identifier of our wealth."

"Like attaching a 'the third' or 'the fourth' at the end of your name?" Darien asked.

"Exactly," Zoisite answered as he put his hair back into a ponytail.

"Little Gavin here is the fourth of his kind," Jadeite said as he smacked the shorter boy's back extra hard.

"You are?" Darien chuckled a bit.

They started to separate out into a circle across the grass as Gavin rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but it sounds so corny. Gavin Archibald Grant the fourth."

"Sounds like a New England nautical boy," he shrugged.

"Which he is!" Zoisite shouted as he started to throw the ball to any random member of the circle.

As time passed, they chatted more about Darien's background. Asking him for the full lowdown.

"So you're an orphan boy with good connections?" Nephrite summed up as he caught the ball from Gavin. "Sounds like the life. I hate dealing with my parents."

"It comes at a cost," Darien replied, his eyes never blinking.

"What kind of a cost?" Jadeite asked.

"Stop bugging him about it!" Gavin suddenly snapped, making everyone stop what they were doing. He was annoyed and frustrated with these guys trying to find out every dirty detail about the new kid. He had just recently been the new boy and they weren't as half as interested in him as they were in Darien. One could call it a fit of jealousy, but Gavin simply thought of it as protecting his territory which was his place in this circle of friends.

The bells rang for dinner, interrupting the tension. The boys started to walk back toward the sunset glowing castle. Darien looked over at Gavin and asked, "Where's Kunzite? I thought he was supposed to meet up with us outside."

"He's probably with Mina," he answered.

"Who's Mina?"

"His girlfriend," Gavin answered. "She's got quite the sassy brood around her."

"You're just saying that because you want Serena and she won't budge," Nephrite laughed. "That woman will tear any man down who comes within fifty feet of her."

"She never even lets me ask her out on a date!" he growled.

"That's because she thinks you're joke like the rest of us," Zoisite jabbed. The group went silent and Gavin picked up his pace a bit, pushing past the crowd of people walking into the dining room entrance. He was clearly hurt by the remark. Zoisite sighed and called out, "G-Gavin! Calm down! I was only kidding!" He looked back at his friends and the newbie who was drinking it all in, "He's worse than a girl on her period sometimes. So testy."

The group made it into the large eating hall and picked up red plastic trays of food to bring to the designated wooden table. The hall looked like a regular medieval building with glass stained windows that had ancient mythologies of gods and goddesses on them. Darien couldn't keep his eyes off of the brightly colored images that glowed in the dusk sunlight. His head felt it was stuck facing upwards as he continued to receive his food from the feeding line. The gaggle of students acted like a bunch of hogs running to the trough. With his light blue eyes still staring up at the tall windows, he started to follow the rest of his friends to their designated table. Just as he was about to look down to sit, he accidentally collided into someone.

"Watch where you're going!" a feminine voice screamed.

He shook his head and saw a pair of violet, flashing eyes at him with dark bangs hanging above them. He stepped back and blushed while mumbling to this unabashed beauty, "Sorry. I was—"

"Don't waste your breath," she growled as she sat down in the spot he was going to take. She flicked off some of the food that had fallen on her white blouse and continued to shoot him an enraged glare.

Darien examined all of the women that mingled with his newly acquired group of friends. Kunzite had finally appeared – from where, Darien did not know – and he was sitting next to a spritely young blonde. His arm was protectively wrapped around her as they gallantly laughed at the exchange between the new kid and the feisty young girl he had run into.

"Pay no mind to Rei," the bubbly blonde said. "She's always like that."

"So she's always a bitch?" Darien asked as he sat down at the table.

The whole group formed a chorus of, "Ooooh!"

"You have no idea who you are messing with," Gavin winked as he sat across from Darien.

"I think I have a fair idea," he replied as he stared at Rei intensely. After chewing on a piece of carrot, he started to list off things to her, "You've either been tainted by a boyfriend or a father." He tilted his head and nodded, "A father for sure. Who do you live with?"

"My grandfather," she answered slowly as she narrowed her eyes into slits at him. "I'm sorry, but do we know each other?"

"No we don't, but you're not that difficult to read," he shrugged as he went back to his food.

A voice piped up from a few seats down, "Where's Serena?"

Darien looked up and noticed a young girl with a high glossy ponytail attached to her head. She was in a matching track suite with green and white accents. He could tell just by what was on her large plate of food that she was an athlete. She chugged on her cup of milk as she waited for an answer from someone at the table.

"You know Serena," Mina responded in between bites. "She's always late, even for her favorite time of the day."

"Didn't you buy her a watch a few weeks ago?" a blue haired girl asked.

"You mean that expensive piece of jewelry that also tells time? Yes I did," Mina nodded. "But Ami, you know how she is. She doesn't keep track of anything!"

"Yes I do!" someone said from behind.

Darien turned around and set his eyes on a tall, slender young woman with long blonde hair that was divided into two ponytails. She squeezed herself into a spot between Darien and Mina. She shoved her arm in Mina's face and showed her the white gold watch that she was still wearing.

"I'm not as stupid as you think I am," she pouted as she dove into her mashed potatoes.

"No one called you stupid," Ami said calmly. "We simply commented on your tardiness."

"Believe it or not, I was with a math tutor," she announced defiantly, causing great pause from her female friends.

Rei burst out laughing at her and leaned across Darien as though he weren't there, "You're joking!"

"I'm failing the class. Why shouldn't I try to get that grade up?" she replied.

"You're also failing science," Ami pointed out. "Are you going to do anything about that?"

"Well, if you're so concerned about me, Ami, why don't you help—"

"No," she cut her friend off. "I don't have time. I'm taking twenty-three units this semester. I hardly have enough time to eat. So I must be on my way."

She spooned the last bit of food into her mouth and stood up to her feet, climbing over the bench to walk down the aisle. The brunette with the ponytail joined her along with Nephrite.

"I should get going too. I need to do some weights before I get cracking on the Great Gatsby," she announced.

"Lita, you haven't started? The test is tomorrow!" Rei bellowed as she too got up from the table with Ami following her exact move.

"Whatever," she shrugged as she, Nephrite, and the two ladies walked away together.

Darien smiled and glanced at Serena who was staring at him for a good while. She continued to chew on her steak and rested her temple on her closed fist as she examined him.

"Mind telling me what you're thinking?" Darien asked curiously.

Serena held her hand out and smiled, "Give me a penny."

"What?" he replied with a quizzical expression over his face.

"A penny," she repeated. "I would like a penny for my thoughts."

He blinked and tossed her a side grin before shoving his hand into his pockets to find a coin. When he did find the copper colored trinket, he placed it into her soft palm. She curled her hand and smiled sheepishly.

"I was thinking about what a strange pair of blue eyes you have," she answered. "I think it's weird that you have such dark hair with such a light stare."

"She can be pretty poetic when she wants," Gavin mused.

"You only say that because you wish for my poems to spoken about _you_," she snapped at him suddenly. Serena turned her attention back to the boy sitting next to her and asked, "Who are you?"

"Serena, why do you ask that?" Mina groaned. "You know who he is. We all do."

"I'm Darien Shields," he answered, ignoring Mina's whining. "I just transferred here."

"Your father was that director … The one who won an Oscar three years ago," she nodded, looking him up and down. "So sad about the car accident. I'm really sorry."

"Thank you for your condolences," he nodded. "Luckily I still have a family with connections on this side of the country."

"Your aunt," she said. "Ethel Preston? She's such a character!"

"You know her?"

"Yes. She's come to our place many times for dinner over the summer," Serena beamed. "I like to make her feel…uncomfortable. I have asked her all about the movie stars she dated when she was younger and the supposed affairs she has had with various men during her marriage to that Duke in England."

"And she's answered you?" Darien asked breathlessly. He was so surprised that this girl could actually get under his aunt's skin. He thought she had a hide made of steel and diamonds; too tough for such banter from a young lady like Serena.

"She has never answered me. She would merely arch an eyebrow like this," she said as she started to imitate his aunt, "and then in a shrill voice, she would say, 'My dear Serena, if you keep blabbing on about affairs that you know nothing of, you will get what's coming to you.' Then I would ask her, 'Well what _is_ coming to me Ethel?' And she would reply, 'A world of despair.' I always laugh at that remark. I find her droll and boring."

"I have to say, for a girl who is failing math and science, you certainly have quite a way with words, don't you?" Gavin commented.

"It's the one trait that my mother bestowed upon me before she died," she beamed. "That and a metabolism that keeps me fit and tip-top shape."

With that said, Serena finished her meal as quickly as possible and then tapped onto Mina's shoulder. Her friend had been intimately engaged with Kunzite, whispering to one another as though they were on a private date. Mina turned around, mumbled something under her breath, and rolled her eyes before following her friend out of the cafeteria. They waved goodbye to the boys and were out of sight before Darien could offer his services of being her science tutor.

"She's a very sassy young girl, isn't she?" Zoisite smirked. "Ol' Gavin here has tried to rope her in, but she won't have it."

"She hates me," he grumbled as he picked at his food.

"Hate is such a strong word," Kunzite said. "I think she merely detests the sight of you."

"Oh like that's any better!" he exclaimed.

"Calm down Gavin. Maybe Rei will date you!" Jadeite laughed, unable to keep a straight face as he said it.

Gavin stood up to his feet as he solemnly announced, "I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

Darien leapt up into a standing position and said, "I'll join you. I'm exhausted myself. It's been such a tiring day and I have those exams tomorrow. I need to remember to set my alarm."

The two walked down their respective aisles and dumped the rest of their food before exiting the dining hall. Once they were gone, Kunzite looked at his two remaining friends that were seated across from him.

"I think we should play one more trick on him before he's accepted as a real roommate," he declared.

"What's that?" Jadeite asked as he munched idly away on a snow pea.

"Turn his alarm off. Those exams start at 7:30 sharp in the morning. I want him to start his day off with a bang …"

* * *

><p>Darien stamped out the cigarette he had been smoking and blew away the last bit of smoke from his lungs. He glanced across the room and caught sight of the gun again. The listless body on the ground suddenly stirred and lifted their head. She turned around and looked at Darien and then gasped when she discovered where they were.<p>

"Mina, don't scream," Gavin warned casually as he stood up from the chair he had been sitting on backwards. "It won't do you any good to say a word. I've already shot Darien and I will shoot you too if you provoke me."

She pursed her lips shut and closed her eyes as she felt the back of her head. Darien could see a rather large gash had formed from her being pushed up against the rough brick wall by Gavin. He never realized when they were younger just how terrible his temper really was.

"Now that Mina is awake, maybe she can also give us some accounts of how we got here," he grinned devilishly. "Well Mina?"

Her eyes frantically flickered from Darien to Gavin and back again. The gunned down man nodded to her, "Do what he says Mina."

She winced as she pulled herself across the dank floor and leaned against the wall next to Darien. With a breathless tone to her voice, she asked, "All right … where did you two leave off?"

"My first night at the boarding school," he grimaced.

"Oh right … Jesus that was a long time ago," she whispered.

"Well? Carry on then! I don't have a lot of time!" Gavin hissed.

Mina sighed and started her version story…

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><p>Chapter 3 will come next! ^_^ Please review!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

****Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters or any of the brands or labels mentioned.****

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Darien glanced at Mina as she gently tried to sit up without harming her head any further. He had the doctoral instinct to see if she had a concussion, but he knew that Gavin would shoot off one of his feet if he did. He glimpsed down at his wound and wondered how much blood he had lost. By the looks of it, it was starting to get a little worrisome. He had been pressing his handkerchief from his pocket onto his wound. During his reminiscing with Gavin, he would ring the excess blood out of it and then try to sop up the blood again.

"So you were talking about … wait what?" Mina groaned. Her head was still spinning and she couldn't keep a single streaming thought going.

"Mina stay awake, please," Darien begged through his gritted teeth.

Her eyes fluttered open and she rolled her head in his direction, "Huh? Oh yeah … okay. Remind me where you were at?"

"I had just arrived at school," he said.

Gavin rolled his eyes, "You were off banging Kunzite somewhere."

Her eyes flickered at him, narrowing. She wished she could have jumped up and strangled that little fucker, but she supposed that all of the torture he received in their younger days would suffice enough. He would never get away with this anyways, so she might as well amuse him until the cops came.

"I remember that day … that was…well, that _turned_ into a good day," she breathed.

* * *

><p>Mina paced back and forth in her room, chewing her nails incessantly. Ami and Serena were sitting on the edge of the bed, all of their eyes attached to the little white stick on the dark wooden table.<p>

"How did you even get a hold of that test?" Ami asked.

"Why? You impressed?" Serena grinned.

"Well … yes," she said, astounded that she could have been amazed by Serena sneaking out of their dorm and running to the closest town.

"Fuck!" Mina exclaimed as she continued to walk back and forth in a rather dizzying fashion. "What if I _am_ pregnant?"

"Then … um … well—"

But before Ami could answer her question, she was cut off by the alarm they had set. It rang through the tense silence as Mina slowly walked up to her nightstand. With a shaky hand, she gripped the wand and the box tightly. Her eyes bounced back and forth from one to the other and then a sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she fell to the hardwood floor. Ami grabbed the stick and the box from her shocked friend, eager to find out what the results were. Serena crawled across the bed and looked over her shoulder.

"You're not pregnant!" Serena exclaimed excitedly.

"Shh! You want the whole dorm to hear you?" Mina whispered.

"Sorry!" she replied in an extremely hushed tone. "But you're not pregnant! That's a cause for celebration!"

"And a reminder to be cautious," Ami chimed in as she placed the pregnancy text in the trash.

"I have to tell Kunzite," Mina said as she still lay on the floor, her eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. "_Now_."

"We don't have dinner for another two hours," her blue haired friend responded.

"I can't wait that long."

"Well how are you going to get to him? You're not allowed in the boys' dorm building."

Mina leapt off the floor and pointed to Serena, "You can teach me how to break in."

Serena shook her head no, "It's broad daylight. You can just go scaling the pipes into his room. The guards will see you."

"You would think that for how much our family pays for this place, the security would have found a better system of keeping sneaky little girls like yourselves out of places they shouldn't be," Ami said with a roll of her eyes as she started to stroll out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Mina asked, whipping her head around.

"I have study hall," she answered.

The flustered blonde rushed around her room, searching for a scrap piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled something down as fast as her hand could write and then folded it up. She handed it to Ami as she asked, "Can you give this message to Kunzite? He always goes to the library after lacrosse."

"Does this note tell him to use protection next time?" she asked curiously.

"Just give him the message, please," Mina ordered.

Ami didn't bother to argue with her friend any longer and just turned back around to leave. Once she was gone, Mina collapsed onto her bed right beside her friend who was now standing on her four-post bed. She tip toed on the wooden frame, treating it like a balance beam.

"Please don't stand on that," Mina said to her. "That's how your bed broke."

"That's what you think," she grinned devilishly. "There's a reason I have a room of my own."

"Yeah, because you and Rei nearly tore each other throats out when rooming together," she laughed. "You act like your cherry has been popped, but really, it's still full intact."

"Who thought of that phrase up? It makes the idea of making love sound so unappealing," Serena grimaced as she hopped down onto the floor

"Having sex isn't all it's cracked up to be, Serena," Mina mumbled. She rolled onto her stomach, grabbed a pillow to cuddle with and continued, "I mean, just look at me. Becoming physically close with someone has its consequences."

"Becoming close with someone also has its emotional consequences," she replied as she started to use the bed frame as a ballet bar. She did some nimble stretches as she suddenly changed the subject, "Did you hear that there was a new boy being enrolled?"

"Who told you that?"

"Gavin."

"Are you sure he wasn't trying to strike up a conversation with you? That boy has such a crush on you. I'm sure he would say anything just to get your attention. You should have never taken pity on him in ballet class. Now he's not only your dance partner, but he's clinging onto you for dear life."

"Well this time, he's telling the truth. He's living with the new boy."

"Mmmm … fresh blood for Kunzite then," she mused. "I wonder how many tests he's going to put this new fish through."

"How many roommates has he driven out of their room?'

"I think five."

Serena did a few pirouettes until she stopped at the large window in the room. Her eyes gazed down at the front drive way, watching a boy with jet black hair and a khaki colored trench coat get out of the black Lincoln that had pulled up.

"I wonder how long he will last," she whispered.

"Not for very long if my man has anything to say about it," Mina grunted as she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. She turned and looked back at Serena who was still staring out the window at the end of the room. "Hey!" she hollered out to her, snapping her friend out of her daze. "Wanna go see what Rei is up to?"

"She's probably doing meditations or something," Serena yawned. "That sounds boring."

"Well, how about we follow the new kid around the grand tour of the grounds? Get a feel for him?"

"And piss off Mrs. Blanken-shit? Now you're talking my language," she beamed.

"You and trouble go hand in hand like—"

"You and pregnancy tests?" she finished. "I know. We're a match made in heaven. Let's go!"

The two young ladies sprinted out of the room quickly in their bare feet, not caring that their classmates who had just gotten out of practice or extra courses were staring at them. They bounded down the wooden staircases in giant leaps and made it to the front entrance. They let their feet dance across the wet dewy grass and close in on the boy's dorm room across the lawn. The blonde girls snuck around the edge of the first floor, searching for an open window that they could climb into. Luckily Serena knew all of the trap windows and was able to break into the third one they checked. They climbed inside and crept into a dark corridor that was behind a broken wooden plank in the wall. They listened to Mrs. Blankenship's screeching voice bounce off through the building as she explained all of the activities that were offered to the new boy.

"You have the option of playing an instrument, taking a writing class, or you may play a sport," she stated curtly.

"Can't I do all of them?" the boy asked, his voice raspy with sadness and boredom.

They could tell that Mrs. Blankenship was confused by the slight pause. Serena could just imagine her turning around and arching an eyebrow, "If you think you can handle that."

"I can," he answered.

Both Serena and Mina continued to follow the mini tour group down the secret corridor and mimed what the headmistress was saying, "Breakfast is at eight. Classes start at nine. You will take a preliminary test to see where you fit in with class levels. We expect you to get through everything by the time you're eighteen. By then, you will apply to universities and excel in anything you choose to do."

The new kid didn't respond at all. Serena wondered what his expression was like. She remembered how she felt during her uninteresting introduction to the school that her parents had forced her into. She had been sullen, upset, and to put it in blunt terms, she had been a bitch of a teenager. Her family had pretty much thrown her out of their three story home when she turned thirteen. She didn't even have time to get one last whiff of the cool ocean breeze when they packed up her things and shoved her into the Rolls Royce.

Serena shook her head suddenly, trying to remove herself from her flashback, and glanced over at where Mina was standing only to find that she had gone missing. Cursing under her breath, she went squeezing down the tight hallway in search of her friend. When she couldn't find her, she tried to get out of the secret passage way. Serena kicked out the wooden doorway, only to find a familiar pair of veiny, snow white legs in her vision.

"Ms. Grey … what are you doing in the wall?" Mrs. Blankenship asked.

"I'm … um … looking for termites?" she said sheepishly.

"Get out of there Ms. Grey."

She climbed out, her voice squeaking a little bit as she did. As she dusted herself off, she asked, "What's my punishment this time?"

"Three thousand words on why you believe it is necessary to excavate the walls of this establishment. Room 423 at seven-thirty am sharp," she instructed. "Now please promptly return to your room."

"Yes Mrs. Blankenship," she nodded.

Serena rushed through the hallways, out the door, across the lawn, back to the dorm room that her four best friends shared. The only person available to listen to her was her arch nemesis, but her closest friend; Rei.

"Where's Mina?" the stoic, violet eyed woman asked as she flipped through a Vogue magazine.

"I don't know. I lost her," she breathed.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Rei replied with sneer crossing her lips.

Serena walked over to her friend and snatched up the magazine, "Have you heard about the new kid?"

"His name is Darien Shields," she answered with a grouchy tone as she watched the blonde flip through the glossy pages of her magazine. "I was reading about his dramatic family crisis in Vogue before you took it from me."

"What happened to him? Why is his family such a big deal?" she asked.

"Every family here is a big deal," she scoffed. "Your last name is a part of a smooth vodka bottle and with your grandma's training and hacking of your last name, no one would have guessed that your family is Russian."

"And your family runs that god awful logging business—"

"Which helped build your home, Mina's home, Ami's home—"

"I get it!"

"And this boarding. All of this wood is mine."

"It's all your grandfather's until he dies, which he won't because of that damn fish oil he always takes. Then it's your mother's … and _then_ maybe yours … if you're family doesn't think you're a huge bitch," Serena laughed.

"Anyways, his father was a film director. You remember that movie called 'Through the Brush'?" he asked.

"Nope."

"It had Penelope Cruz and Christian Bale?"

"Was there a weird sex scene with a stuffed rabbit?" she asked curiously behind the magazine.

"Yeah, so?"

"I remember it then," she nodded.

"Well his father directed that."

"His father is a perv."

"Don't speak ill of the dead!" Rei snapped, slapping Serena's bare thigh.

"They're dead. They don't know any better," she replied, ignoring the reprimand.

"Be nice to him, please. He's probably upset."

"We'll see. I'll feel him out."

"Be careful 'feeling him out'," her friend cautioned her. "Ethel Preston is his aunt."

"The one who was married to a duke? Oh my god … That woman hates me!" she cried out with a nervous giggle escaping from her lips.

"That's because you took one of her specially crafted diamond necklaces at a party, threw it at her face, and called her a fascist whore. I don't even think you knew what a fascist was at the time," Rei laughed as she recalled the memory. "Your parents were appalled and had to drag you out of that damn party kicking and screaming."

"Don't let a child get near the champagne flutes. My family learned that the hard way," she shrugged.

"You are such a bitch," Rei sighed as she grabbed the magazine back. "Don't you have some other poor soul to bother?"

"Everyone else is busy," she whined as she curled up into a fetal position.

Serena closed her eyes and nuzzled her head against Rei's crotch and fell asleep quickly. When she woke up, she could hear her friends getting ready for dinner. She didn't bother to open her eyes for at least another twenty minutes. The sun had gone down by the time her big blue eyes were able to take in her surroundings. The bell for their daily meal rang obnoxiously through her ears. She groggily sat up and gasped at the vision of herself in the full length mirror that hung on the back of the door. She groaned as she started to fix her hair up and dab her lips with some of Rei's expensive lip balm.

When she was done, she kissed the mirror goodbye – literally – and walked out of the room. She was still barefoot as she made it to the cafeteria. There, she filled her plate to the point of where it was almost overflowing with mashed potatoes and gravy. She could hear her friends laughing about her unfortunate tardiness. The new kid was sitting next to Rei … this had to stop. She had to get his attention. Now.

"Didn't you buy her a watch a few weeks ago?" Ami asked Mina with a sly grin on her face.

"You mean that expensive piece of jewelry that also tells time? Yes I did," her Houdini of a friend replied. "But Ami, you know how she is. She doesn't keep track of anything!"

"Yes I do!" Serena said from behind, making Mina jump a little bit.

She did her best to try to make her eyes pierce through her friend's soul, but it clearly didn't work since so she decided to move on with the conversation. She squeezed her little butt in between Darien and Mina, keeping her distance from Rei for now.

"I'm not as stupid as you think I am," she pouted as she dove into her mashed potatoes, spinning them around in the pool of gravy.

"No one called you stupid," Ami said calmly. "We simply commented on your tardiness."

"Believe it or not, I was with a math tutor," she lied, causing great pause from her female friends.

Rei burst out laughing at her and leaned across Darien as though he weren't there, "You're joking!"

"I'm failing the class. Why shouldn't I try to get that grade up?" she replied.

"You're also failing science," Ami pointed out. "Are you going to do anything about that?"

"Well, if you're so concerned about me, Ami, why don't you help—"

"No," she cut her friend off. "I don't have time. I'm taking twenty-three units this semester. I hardly have enough time to eat. So I must be on my way."

Ami spooned the last bit of food into her mouth and stood up to her feet, climbing over the bench to walk down the aisle. Lita suddenly bounded to her feet, joining her along with Nephrite.

"I should get going too. I need to do some weights before I get cracking on the Great Gatsby," she announced.

"Lita, you haven't started? The test is tomorrow!" Rei bellowed as she too got up from the table with Ami following her exact move. Clearly Serena had overslept more than she had expected since all of her friends were done with their meal.

"Whatever," she shrugged as she, Nephrite, and the two ladies walked away together.

Serena decided to avert her gaze and attention onto the new kid sitting beside her. He glanced at her and smiled weakly while she continued to chew on her steak and rested her temple on her closed fist.

"Mind telling me what you're thinking?" the dark haired boy asked curiously.

Serena held her hand out and smiled, "Give me a penny."

"What?" he replied with a quizzical expression over his face.

"A penny," she repeated. "I would like a penny for my thoughts."

He blinked and tossed her a side grin before shoving his hand into his pockets to find a coin. When he did find the copper colored trinket, he placed it into her soft palm. She curled her hand and smiled sheepishly.

"I was thinking about what a strange pair of blue eyes you have," she answered. "I think it's weird that you have such dark hair with such a light stare."

"She can be pretty poetic when she wants," Gavin mused from across the table.

"You only say that because you wish for my poems to spoken about you," she snapped at him suddenly. Serena turned her attention back to the boy sitting next to her and asked, "Who are you?"

"Serena, why do you ask that?" Mina groaned. "You know who he is. We all do."

"I'm Darien Shields," he answered, ignoring Mina's whining. "I just transferred here."

"Your father was that director … The one who won an Oscar three years ago," she nodded, looking him up and down. Hanging out with Rei had its advantages … it got her information. "So sad about the car accident. I'm really sorry."

"Thank you for your condolences," he nodded. "Luckily I still have a family with connections on this side of the country."

"Your aunt," she said. "Ethel Preston? She's such a character!"

"You know her?"

"Yes. She's come to our place many times for dinner over the summer," Serena beamed. "I like to make her feel…uncomfortable. I have asked her all about the movie stars she dated when she was younger and the supposed affairs she has had with various men during her marriage to that Duke in England." Her story of her encounter with his aunt were only the tip of the iceberg, but Serena wasn't about to tell that to him just yet…

"And she's answered you?" Darien asked breathlessly.

"She has never answered me. She would merely arch an eyebrow like this," she said as she started to imitate his aunt, "and then in a shrill voice, she would say, 'My dear Serena, if you keep blabbing on about affairs that you know nothing of, you will get what's coming to you.' Then I would ask her, 'Well what is coming to me Ethel?' And she would reply, 'A world of despair.' I always laugh at that remark. I find her droll and boring."

"I have to say, for a girl who is failing math and science, you certainly have quite a way with words, don't you?" Gavin commented.

"It's the one trait that my mother bestowed upon me before she died," she beamed. "That and a metabolism that keeps me fit and tip-top shape."

With that said, Serena finished her meal as quickly as possible and then tapped onto Mina's shoulder. Her friend had been intimately engaged with Kunzite, whispering to one another as though they were on a private date. Mina turned around, mumbled something under her breath, and rolled her eyes before following her friend out of the cafeteria. They waved goodbye to the boys and were out of sight as fast as possible.

Serena clutched tightly onto her friend, practically squeezing the blood out of her arm as she asked her, "So what happened to you today? I was left alone with Mrs. Blankenship!"

"Sorry I left without a warning," Mina whispered. "I had to get to Kunzite as soon as possible. I told him to meet me in our secret place. I couldn't wait any longer so I went there."

"A giant willow tree on the far reaches of the grounds is no secret Mina," Serena corrected her. "Just tap me next time you decide to desert me. Now I have detention … at seven-thirty in the morning."

"Kunzite told me some interesting information," her friend grinned.

"What is it? About the new boy?" she exclaimed.

"He'll most likely be in the same room as you when you have detention," she giggled.

"Brilliant! How brilliant!"

Serena went bounding down hallway and danced all the way back to the dorms. When she made it to her single room and plopped down on her bed, Mina leaned against the door to give her a warning.

"Kunzite said he would be playing a trick on Darien though. He told me that he would be sedating him and removing all the alarm clocks in the morning. That kid won't have a chance of waking up on time for his tests."

"He just might surprise us more than you think Mina," Serena smiled. "There's something about him."

"You're just charmed by his good looks."

"Oh it's much more than that."

Mina paused for a moment before stating, "Just because you have your eyes set on someone else doesn't mean Gavin will let up."

"He can chase me all he wants …"

* * *

><p>"And I did!" Gavin screamed.<p>

He had leapt up from his chair as Mina finished her part of the story. Her eyes were starting to flutter slightly and Darien did his best to keep her awake while his old friend threw a tantrum. Loud banging noises filled the room as Gavin threw his chair across the room, watching it bounce off the walls like a ball. There still were no signs of movement from upstairs. Either everyone had gone home or something had happened …

"Why haven't our friends come down for us, Darien?" Mina asked weakly.

"I don't know," he replied solemnly.

"Because there is no such thing as a true friend Mina!" Gavin shouted. "No one will save you. Not even Darien here can save you!"

Darien started to fume a little at the mocking tone in this blonde boy's voice. He could have destroyed him if he wanted, but he decided to keep his cool instead and reserve his strength. For now it was all about making sure Gavin wasn't going to go flying off the handle. Even as Darien sat on his tiny gun, he did his best to keep the subject on the past, not the present.

So they kept going on with the story…

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><p>This chapter was a bit of a cop out; I apologize. Next one will be much better! I promise!<p>

Please review! ^_^


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